


Sunshine and Shadows

by Lithiumstars



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Backstory i guess, Blood, Drugging, Fluff, Kidnapping, M/M, Needles, Panic Attacks, Rito? writing fluff? Its more likely than you think, Rythna - Freeform, Smut in ch4, Surgery, and copious amounts of blood and descriptions of gore, background honeyphos, content warnings for chapter three include, fits with my cornerstone fic, grey ace rythian, not too descriptive but its there, trans rythian, xeph uses they/them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-03-30 03:53:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19034236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithiumstars/pseuds/Lithiumstars
Summary: Sister fic to Cornerstone. Fluff in earlier chapters, chapter three onwards introduces darker themes. Warnings will be in the tags and given per chapter. Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

Rythian pulled himself from the portal. The End pulled at his skin, scratched and clawed with Her might as he fought for freedom. His breath rasped as he dug his hands into the earth. The warm earth. He craved that warmth. The light, the sun, the feeling of fire on his body. And he fought. Rythian hissed, kicking hard into the portal, and rolled forwards. The tear screeched as it closed, purple ink painting the grass and stone.

He exhaled. His voice was useless here in the Brightlands. He couldn’t speak their language. He could laugh though. Laugh at his flight from the End. He hesitated to call it freedom, as he knew he’d have to go home at some point, but it was momentary solace. To stare at the sky, wide purple eyes following the cotton clouds, taking in the sheer beauty of colours beyond the static monochrome of before. His laugh was hoarse, breathy - new to him. His shoulder ached, and he caught the flash of crimson. Even his blood was vibrant and beautiful in this world. 

Rythian stayed there for what seemed like days. Time moves differently in the dimensions, you see. He had no concept of time beyond faint, faint memories of sunset. The Tall ones had told him about nights. He didn’t believe them. But as a shadow fell over his face, he remembered their tales. Darkness. Rythian looked up from his shoulder.

Bright blue eyes and a mane of sunshine hair stared back at him. He chuckled, breath hitching as blood pooled in his mouth. Blue eyes widened, drawing closer as they crouched down. They spoke, a language familiar but forgotten, hushed and worried. Their hands busy at his shoulder, sitting him up. Rythian hissed, his hand raised to swat at the intrusion, before he laxed to his exhaustion. His escape was done and he was prepared to suffer the consequences. Death’s gentle door would have been a more welcome sight than the cold stone of the End. This stranger, hair bustling in the gentle breeze, was a sweet warmth in this world and Rythian, a fool high on freedom, let them carry him to their home.

He awoke later in blissful comfort. He’d received gifts from the Tall ones similar to the quilts that swathed him. His shoulder was bound with bandage, ache dull.  
“Oh! You’re awake! Good, uh - shit, how do you feel?” The stranger rambled. Rythian paused. He hadn’t understood them before.  
“Hello?” They asked, gentler this time, “Can you hear me?”  
Rythian burned. He couldn’t respond. He knew to respond, to signal, but he couldn’t move.  
“Okay,” they smiled and Rythian’s heart fluttered, “That’s alright. My name is Lalna. You’re in my house. We’re near Mistral City.”  
“Lalna.” Rythian repeated, the name rolling off his tongue with ease, “Lalna?” He tried again, emphasising the first half, mimicking the way Lalna had said it.  
Lalna laughed softly, running a hand through his hair, “Yeah.”  
A name he could do. Pronunciations ran through his head. The Queen had growled it more than She’d spoke.  
“Rythian.” He managed, eyes trained on Lalna. His head tilted as he smiled.  
“Rythian.” Lalna repeated, accent struggling around his name, “What an odd name.”

Lalna quickly accepted Rythian as a permanent feature of his home. The man rarely strayed beyond the garden, staring at the bordering forest for hours on end while his shoulder healed. Whatever had attacked him - had bit him - terrified Lalna. The size of its jaws, the size of its teeth alone; the creature would have been gargantuan. Rythian wasn’t distant, but he was certainly quiet. The language barrier was little problem. They understood each other well enough, Rythian speaking little and only when needed. Lalna tried his hardest not to mock the man for his butchering of their shared language. He was learning, after all, how to speak again. 

Their first conversation came two weeks later. Rythian had woken up, screaming into the night, hands clawing at his face. Lalna hadn’t asked about the scars. Something about them seemed private, and so he didn’t pry any further than a quick inspection. Lalna took his hands in his own, letting Rythian cry into his shoulder. He’d spilled, broken words through choked sobs. The Queen; the End; the grooming he’d been forced through. Lalna listened, nodding into Rythian’s hair. He’d mumbled till his eyes, bleary and sore, closed shut as he drifted back into an exhausted sleep. Lalna stayed with him, laying him down. They slept face to face, Rythian’s hand in Lalna’s.

Rythian was a delightful mess the next day. Red faced, he stole himself away to Lalna’s small library. His collection was small, mostly focused on wiring and blueprints. Rythian had shied away from the contraptions that littered Lalna’s home, eyeing them with distinct unease. Now he studied the books with a passion Lalna envied. He knew the signs, that Rythian was avoiding the prior night, and he respected them. Rythian was odd, Lalna smiled to himself, but he was wonderful too. He cared about the man who’d appeared on his doorstep, bleeding profusely into the spring grass, eyes wide like he’d never seen the sky before. 

Lalna realised he’d fallen not too long after. Rythian gave up his quest of avoidance, sighing as he sauntered into their living room, perching himself on the raised arm of the couch.  
“Sorry.” He said, quietly.  
“Don’t be. You needed space.”  
“Oh,” he stammered, “I’m sorry still. That I didn’t thank you. For listening. I- I needed to talk.”  
Lalna patted the space next to him, Rythian sliding off the arm with natural grace to sit.  
“I’m here to listen, alright? Don’t be a stranger,” Lalna smiled, “Do you want some more books, by the way? I can ask Xeph about borrowing some.”  
Rythian snorted, leaning into Lalna’s side as he laughed.  
“Yeah. That’d be great Lal’.”


	2. Chapter 2

Rythian fawned over Xephos and Honeydew the moment they walked in. He’d seen humans before Lalna, himself counted, but not a dwarf and his spaceman. Honeydew invited him gladly to mess with his beard, laughing at the delight on Rythian’s face.   
“He’s sweet, isn’t he.” Xephos commented, passing their heavy satchel to Lalna. It was full of books, as promised, and he set them down on the table. Rythian was sat cross-legged on the floor opposite the dwarf. His height over Honeydew was comical, hands clasped together as they talked.

“I’m glad you took him in Lal’. Good to see you in company.” Xephos smiled, a hand clasped on Lalna’s shoulder, “You’ve been on your own for too long son.”   
He looked at Rythian, fond, “Yeah. It’s nice.”  
“Lalna!” Rythian called, pulling Honeydew to his feet, “Honey says I can go mining with him! I’ll be back soon!”  
Honeydew nodded, keeping on his tiptoes to hold Rythian’s hand. His shovel swings on his back as they bounded through the door.

Lalna snorted, bursting into laughter after a pregnant pause.   
“Oh gods, was this a bad idea?” He smirked through his giggles, looking up at Xephos.  
“He’s plenty safe,” they smiled, “Or are you worried about him having fun?”  
“We have fun!” Lalna gasped, exaggerating a harsh pout, “We just don’t go out all that much. I just want him to be safe, y’know? What he went through-”  
“Yes, you mentioned. Honey will keep him safe, I promise friend.”  
“Xeph’ I don’t mean physically.” Lalna started,  
“Neither did I.”  
“Oh.”

Xephos guided Lalna to the window, hand firm on his shoulder.  
“Lalna, my boy, I’ve told you about my early days in this world. Honey kept me grounded in this unfamiliar place. He was a beacon of safety in a world that swore to harm me. You’re Rythian’s beacon.”  
“What?”  
“He may have been in the End, not another planet, but our circumstances are very similar. I see myself in him, Lalna, and I see Honey in you. There’s a bond in rescue.” Xephos takes Lalna’s hand in theirs, “Keep him safe.”

The two returned from their trip an hour later. Rythian’s shirt was dusted with grime, dust stuck to his arms and settled in his hair. He bounced towards Lalna, hands balled together behind his back, feet tapping with excitement.  
“I got you something! It’s really pretty and it matches your eyes!” His hands sprang up, nails gritty and skin rough, revealing a sparkling blue stone in his grasp. It glimmered in the light, reflecting the gentle blue glow that shone from Rythian’s eyes in small flecks of gold. He was beaming. Lalna gasped at the sight of the stone, Lapis - his mind supplied, gently taking it from Rythian’s hands.  
“This is beautiful, thank you.” He smiled wide at Rythian, turning it over in his hand. He’d seen, and used, plenty of lapis before, but he had to admit this was a beautiful specimen.   
“It matches your eyes rather nicely too.”

Rythian again buried himself in books, signing a newly learned ‘thank you’ at Xephos as they left later that week. Lalna and Honeydew wrapped the Lapis in wire and leather cord, tying it around Lalna’s neck. He found his hands drifted to it, holding the stone in one hand over his heart. Every time, he’d blush, thinking back to the great grin on Rythian’s face.  
“Oh gods,” Lalna whispered, “I’m his beacon.”

 

“I think I love you,” Lalna muttered, groaning and burying his head in his hands, “No, that’s dumb. Does he even know about dating? Oh this is so dumb.”  
He was pacing the garden, evening light hiding his violent blush. Rythian was out of earshot, having climbed a tree to stargaze. Lalna cursed, leaning his head against the wall.  
“I love you, and I care about you so much. You’re the best thing that’s happened to me.” Lalna started again, hands pulling through his hair, “And- and,” he stuttered, “And I’m here for you? No that’s dumb! This is so stupid, shit!” He slides to his knees, crouching against the wall with his head in his hands.  
“Lalna?” Rythian called from the tree, “You okay?”  
“Shit.” He cursed under his breath, “Yeah! I’m fine, just tired.”

He heard the padding of Rythian’s feet approach. Lalna looked up. Rythian’s eyes glowed faintly in the twilight, a bright sky blue. They were purple before, having lightened the week prior. They were stunning.   
“Honey said to tell you something, but I don’t know how.” Rythian said, kneeling down to sit level with Lalna.  
“Oh?”  
Rythian scooted towards him, placing his hands on Lalna’s knees. He pushed up, balanced on the balls of his feet as he leaned his head towards Lalna’s.  
“Ryth? I think I-”  
Rythian closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to Lalna’s in one motion. Their noses bump and their lips are dry and the heat between them is scalding. Rythian pulled away, slipping in the grass, chin jerking into Lalna’s chest. He breathed out a swear, before wheezing out a hysterical laugh. Rythian snorted, adjusting to lean into Lalna without hurting his neck.  
“Rythian I love you.”  
Rythian hummed his response, and Lalna can hear the smile that he can’t see.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please heed the warnings in the tags. A short recap will be included in the next chapter for those who may be uncomfortable reading. It's not too in-depth, but I know this is a common fear.

Hector let his head roll over the bed's railing, red eyes locked with Lalna's blue.  
"Aren't you curious? How he uses magic with no source."  
Lalna sighed, looking away from his clone's piercing gaze. He'd invited himself over for a few days, "to catch up" he'd said, but Lalna knew the real reason. Rythian was a biological enigma from what he'd seen, and Hector was all about biology. He was an accomplished surgeon, working with Yoglabs on their cloning bandwagon. Fitting, Lalna often thought, that a clone himself was in charge of the situation. Lalna had strayed from that path, far preferring the gentle hum of machinery over the bloodied gloves of surgery.

"Of course I'm curious, but it's something I'm sure another magic user is more likely to figure out." Lalna conceded, "I know he'd be in safe hands. I'd just rather he wasn't cut open in the first place."  
"You talk about it like it's a bad thing." Hector laughed, swinging up onto the bed, "I'd just have a little rummage, then pop him back together. No damage."  
Lalna groaned discontentedly, running a hand through his hair.   
"And you're sure he'd be fine?"  
"I am a certified doctor, my dear brother. He'll be fine."

Rythian was not fine with the notion. He expressed this disdain eagerly, sprinkling in more swears in his mother tongue than Lalna had ever heard before.  
“I can’t believe you think I’d be okay with it. This- this,” Rythian struggled with his words, “This butcher cutting me open, to what, poke around?”  
Hector scoffed at the term. Rythian’s ear perked up and he scowled, glaring daggers at him.  
“He’s a surgeon, Ryth, and I promise you it’s safe!” Lalna interjected, raising his hands between the two, “But I understand you’re hesitant. Maybe we can do it another time?”  
“No.” Rythian stated, coldly, “I can’t trust this false twin.”  
Lalna gasped, looking to his clone in apology. Hector waved him away, striding towards the couple, crass grin plastered across his face.  
“I can’t force you into anything, but aren’t you curious?” he stared at Rythian’s face, “You’re beautifully unique. No source! How fantastic would that be? Even the off-world denizens here follow that sacred little rule, but you, oh delightful Rythian, End-Born, dash those tenets. It would be a momentous revelation to meet someone who breaks those rules, and to discover how would send us both to greatness. I’m not pushing you into a spotlight, but just imagine the addition to science, to magic, if I could just have a few hours to see how you tick?”  
Rythian stared back, blinking.  
“Fine. But I swear, if you pull any funn-”  
“I’ll be there okay,” Lalna put a hand on Rythian’s shoulder, “You’ll be safe.”

 

Rythian’s head felt like dough, a thick heavy paste settled over his eyes and ears. His surroundings were a sterile white, bleary panels lined the walls while a shrill red blinked in his peripheral. Moving his head was a task harder than escaping the End. His movements were lagged, slow like tar, and the motion made him dizzy. The surface he lay on was cold and sturdy, and the sensation of chilled metal on his cheek made him realise that he couldn’t move anything else. If his head was dough, the rest of his body was the water that steamed it. Tied down to prove by straps that dug into his arms, legs and chest. He focused on the blinking light. It dipped along a screen embedded in a box far too similar to something he’d seen back in Lalna’s laboratory.

Lalna.

Lalna promised that he’d be there. That he’d keep him safe.  
He did not feel safe.

Footsteps behind him made his blood run cold. The boots were heavy on that pristine floor, echoing in his ears. Rythian swung his head back up, heart beaming at the sight of sunshine hair above him. But it did not match the bright blue eyes he knew. Sanguine spheres glared down at him, devious smile clear through his blurred vision. He wasn’t safe. He shuffled as much as he could in his bindings, powerless under them.  
“Don’t even try, Enderborn.” Hector said, sour saccharine lacing his words, “You won’t be able to do a thing.”  
Rythian hissed, trying anyway.  
Hector laughed, dancing a hand to Rythian’s chest. It lay over his heart, heavy pressure to his dampened senses.   
“I’m figuring out how you work, whether you like it or not.”  
A pain blossomed in his neck, numbing within seconds. Rythian’s eyes closed against his will, and he screamed in his head as the great darkness pulled him back.

“Where is he.”  
“He left! I told you! He came around to get it over and done with.”   
Lomadia’s hand was strong at Hector’s throat. He was backed against the wall, blood slipping from his nose from her initial entrance. Lalna stood a few paces back, face red and brows furrowed.   
“Then you’ll be happy for me to search then?” He growled. Hector gave a taut nod,  
“Yeah, go ahead.”  
Lalna stormed away, leaving his sister and his clone together. Lomadia stood a few inches above Hector, outmatching him easily in physical strength. He could do nothing but struggle, shuffling awkwardly under her grasp. 

Lomadia had not expected visitors that morning. Her home was hidden away, nature claiming any free space it could between sprigs and hanging baskets brimming with magical crops. She brushed the stray hair that had fallen from her braids to the side as she sleepily opened the door, awoken by the incessant knocking. Lalna shifted outside, hopping from one foot to the other, frantic and teary eyed. His hair was a mess, mane pulled into a messy bun, and his eyes were grey with stress. He raved at her, gesturing wildly as he explained the situation. Lomadia and Hector were estranged, she’d far preferred the so called ‘defective’ clone that took his place. Lalna was pleasant in a way Hector hadn’t been, gentle and focused. He loved Rythian and, while she hadn’t spent much time with the mysterious man her brother lived with, when his safety was called into question she sprang into action. 

Lalna screamed, muffled behind walls to their ears, when he opened the bathroom door. The bathtub was filled with ice cubes, half melted by body heat. Rythian was limp, propped against the steel taps in a way that seemed far too uncomfortable. Dried blood stained his chin, fresh cuts across his lips spilling his mulberry blood down his face. His eyes were closed, pained and stressed, dark with exhaustion. Lalna’s eyes trailed down. Rythian’s shirt had been shed. Lalna, for once, wished it hadn’t been. He’d seen the mans scars. He knew their stories. The deep, oozing wound in Rythian’s chest was new. It brought bile to his throat, choking as he stepped oh so carefully towards him. 

The wound had been sewn shut. Hector’s handywork. The man was skilled, Lalna had to admit, to close an opening that large with minimal stitching. His knifework, however, left much to be desired. Nicks and lacerations surrounded the still weeping cut, skin raw and discoloured. A green orb sat by his waist. It looked, to Lalna, like a giant glass eye, dark mint in colour, with a long slit pupil. Flecks of purple lined the void of the pupil, glowing and dimming with Rythian’s breath. Flakes of blood stuck to the smooth surface, coating the orb. Lalna’s hands flew to his mouth.  
“That was inside him.” He gagged, closing his eyes to inhale. 

He stepped forwards again, hand gingerly stalking forwards to rest against Rythian’s chest. He was breathing, gently and stuttered, but he was breathing. Lalna sighed in relief. He felt ill, moving to lift Rythian from the ice bath. He was cold to the touch. Hypothermic. He wrapped a towel around Rythian’s waist, shedding his jacket to shield the man’s shoulders. Lalna began to shiver, despairing as he realised that Rythian was not doing the same. He held him to his chest, pulling Rythian into his warmth. Blood stained his shirt, not that he cared. In that moment, all he cared about was the feeling of that gentle heartbeat beneath skin and flesh. The orb was pocketed. He felt like it had to be kept close.

Lomadia dragged Hector towards Lalna, pitting him into the corner of the bathroom as she stooped to Lalna’s side.   
“What do we do?” She asked, laying her cardigan over Rythian.  
“Call Xeph. Let him know.” Lalna mumbled, “Do whatever you want with Hector.”  
“Don’t tempt me.” She snarled in response, glaring daggers at the bloodied doctor. She stood up, pacing into the hallway as she called Xephos.   
“I found his source. Your little boyfriend is a monster, Lalna. He’s just like the Endermen.” Hector spat from the corner. Lomadia had bound his hands together.  
“He’s not the monster here.” Lalna muttered into Rythian’s hair.  
“You’ll see. You don’t believe me now but he’ll snap. I’ll be the one who was right all along while you quiver in your hovels.”  
“Xeph is on his way.” Lomadia disregarded Hector, “They’ll be arresting this one and getting Rythian to an infirmary.”  
“No. He’s coming home. They can send someone out. I’ll look after him if I have to.”  
“Lal.”  
“No more clinics.”


End file.
